From Hostage Victim to Woman of Distinction Michelle Renee Celebrates Her Path to Peace
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Author, Speaker and Ambassador, Michelle Renee, receives the Woman of Distinction Award and shares her journey to peace that began as a night of terror. San Diego, CA (PRWEB) May 3, 2007 -- Soroptimist International held its annual luncheon to honor Woman Making a Difference last month. The recipient of the prestigious "Woman of Distinction" Award is Michelle Renee, Founder of the Violent Trauma Awareness Project and author of Held Hostage: The True Story of a Mother and Daughter's Kidnapping. The Violent Trauma Awareness Project is an organization focused on violent crime victim recovery, youth leadership development through the Girls Against Crime program and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder education and awareness. It is the dream Michelle Renee built out of the ashes of tragedy. Following the devastating kidnapping of her daughter and herself, the 14 hour hostage ordeal, and being forced to rob the bank she managed while her daughter was bound, gagged, put into a closet and while both were taped with explosives, they lost everything...except each other. Michelle, a single mother, had to find a way to re-build their life. With nothing but a passion to help others and a vision for positive change, Michelle began to educate herself about non-profit organization start-up and built a 15 page informational website on the free library computer while her daughter was at school. Within two months, the organization was developed. From there Michelle began studying how to become involved in legislative changes for victims rights in the courtroom and, with a donated computer, poured her story out onto pages that turned into her successful first book, Held Hostage. Michelle now fills much of her time with her now teenage daughter and with volunteer activities that benefit the community, including her role as a Board Member for the Justice and Reconciliation Project, as a member of the Global Peacebuilders Project and is now focusing on a Girls Against Crime Youth Leadership Forum in 2008. "It is like a fire has ignited inside of her and she has found her calling through this awful tragedy." says Carolyn Wolf, Soroptimist Leader. "Her gift truly is her heart,". Pat Origlieri of Soroptimist International adds, "We are very interested in Michelle as a woman. We are all so inspired by her story, her determination." Michelle's speaking topics include "Be Your Kids Hero", "From Corporate Ladder to Life Ladder" and "Hostage No More!". She has been a crime victim, parenting after trauma and hostage victim "expert" on local television stations and was recently interviewed on Good Morning America with Gayle King sharing her message to "live smart, not paranoid" with others. Michelle will be featured on Real Moms, Real Stories, Real Savvy, a Public Television Program, this summer discussing how to "Be Your Kids Hero" in the aftermath of tragedy. Her next book, Hostage No More, is being written and will be a tool to help adults and youth work through post trauma together as a team. For more information, visit www.michelle-renee.com or www.vtap.org ###
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